Surviving Fugitive
by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10
Summary: Grimmjow leaves Hueco Mundo for the world of the living after being stripped of his rank and purpose to serve under Aizen by Tōsen. He sets out to create his own army and strike back. That can only happen when he finds Mei, a human possessing Spiritual Energy.
1. Chapter 1

Background info

Mei is a 15 year old orphan who possesses high reiatsu. Her parents had been killed by a pack of vile hollows many years ago. The hollows had been chasing Mei so like every parent should, they died while protecting her from them. The hollows had been attracted to her high reiatsu, which is why she's always on the run from them. However she does not know that she possesses it yet.

Grimmjow Jeagerjaques is a former espada and servant of Aizen. He foolishly gave into his bad temper and dreadful hated towards Tosen by attacking him. This resulted in him being stripped of his rank and purpose to survive under Aizen. He had no other choice but to leave Hueco Mundo and go to the world of the living. There he plans to create his own army and strike back.

This can only happen when he discovers his apprentice, who happens to be Mei.

Disclaimer- I don't own Bleach.

Surviving fugitive

Chapter One

Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10

She sat calmly on the edge of a cliff which overlooked a particular village. It looked like any other common town, possibly slightly poorer in certain areas. Squinting she saw young girls wearing oversized flocks, carrying heavy baskets of bread and little boys jumping around and pulling at the hem of their mother's dresses, making a fuss. Mei didn't have a family so by watching how normal people lived it educated her.

Her legs dangled dangerously over the cliff's peak. She valued life very little but that would be expected considering since a young age, she'd been fighting for survival.

_Flashback_

_Why was this happening again? Mei wasn't sure if this was a coincidence or not. It had happened so many times now it couldn't simply be a coincidence. White masked beasts were chasing her through the village fields. Looking back she could make out an army of monsters through her teary eyes. The majority of them looked like oversized creatures with antennas and sharp claws. Some could fly and were circling above her in a taunting manner, ready to swoop down and deliver the killing blow. She had already received what she considered minor flesh wounds because the gnashes on her body weren't necessarily life threatening and she'd suffered much worse wounds before._

_Mei had been running her little legs for so long, but ignored the fact that her body was at its limit. _

_She wouldn't stop running until her legs gave way. She wouldn't stop breathing until her lungs burst and she wouldn't give up on living until absolute necessary. _

_However the little hope that Mei was clinging onto quickly faded. She couldn't request to survive with the legs of a seven year old. Even with the advantage of a head start the monsters continued to gain in on her, it was pointless and a miracle she was still alive._

_The hollow flying above her swooped down like a hawk. It grabbed her around her waist and began to open its mouth which revealed uneven rows of fangs exuding in drool. _

_Mei closed her eyes ad readied herself for death. However it never came. For some reason while closing her eyes, she saw a small sliver of light in her mind. Maybe she was imagining it, but it seemed to be getting bigger and bigger until it was unbearable to look at. _

_Her very life was flashing before her eyes but she wasn't ready and didn't want to die. That was when she heard voices. They sounded so faint that Mei wasn't sure whether or not it was just the wind or growls of anticipation and hunger coming from the hollows._

_The voices were getting louder and she felt as though there was another soul living inside her body. Before she could listen on to the voices, a sudden change to her physical state brought her back to reality._

_When Mei opened her eyes she found herself lying on the ground in an awkward position. Most importantly, the army of hollows were nowhere to be seen._

_Her dark bangs shifted slightly as she turned her head in all directions to make sure they weren't hiding. _

_She didn't know that the hidden spirit of her zanpakuto had sensed her distress and released some of its own reiatsu which intensified the spiritual pressure she was already unconsciously releasing. The hollows couldn't withstand the pressure and withered away in its wake, reduced to nothing more than reishi._

"_What h-hap- " She fainted and fell head first into the ground, knowing that as soon as she awoke, she needed to be prepared to run away from those masked monsters all over again._

_End of flashback_

Looking up, Mei saw a clear ocean blue sky where a few baby birds gracefully flew by. They reminded her of freedom. Birds had a free pass to go anywhere they wished. Those birds could be right on their way to a completely different land and wouldn't need to have a care in the world.

She'd often drift off into another world upon seeing something which could trigger her imagination and lead her into deep thought.

It had been eight years since that incident had occurred and she still couldn't work out what had made those hollows disappear. It was still a mystery through her point of view.

No matter how far she travelled, every villager had claimed that she was cursed and Mei believed that their theory could be true. She didn't know that there were others who had high reiatsu and could see spirits.

Right now she was merely catching her breath before resuming her run from those monsters. They were still on her rail after all those years. Sometimes bigger ones would appear, except they wore a long black cloak which had a sort of hood to cover the back of their heads. Like every other hollow they had a white mask but their faces bore a long pointed cone for a nose, which was above an open jaw revealing rows of sharp white teeth.

A blood thirsty roar sounded in the distance which was an alert for her to start running quicker_._Mei's resolve was to simply run away and pray that one of those black kimono wearing spirit beings would turn up and kill them for her. On various occasions they had saved her from the masked beasts but she couldn't believe that they'd saved her of their own free will. They hadn't simply wanted to.

To be specific she'd seen a rather young looking one with silver hair in a particular village she'd passed through. The look in his eyes showed her that he was very reluctant if not gambling on whether he should have wasted his time cutting down that hollow for her sake. Instead it seemed like his duty or purpose had something to do with eliminating these hollows which saved her life that day.

Mei was jumping from tree branch to tree branch for a couple of hours. The harsh winter weather made it an effort to keep her eyes open. Most winters she'd hide at an inn for a few hours before resuming her run.

Her legs felt ten times heavier and breathing properly became a challenge. She hadn't slept properly in a week and hadn't eaten for days. Was this all hinting something? Through experience she knew better than to fight the hollows because all it would gain her is one foot in the grave.

Mei was falling. Finally her legs had given way, even after all those years of running and getting stronger, it still hadn't paid off. Had it all been for nothing?

Well she wasn't ready to allow her efforts to be wasted. Mei reached out for something she could hold onto but there was nothing. She was falling over the _cliff_.

Death didn't seem so bad though. All her loved ones were dead so she wouldn't have to regret leaving anyone precious. She would merely be forgotten. If not then her death would be celebrated by those who had spent countless years trying to assassinate her. Although they could never keep up to her speed or pin point her always changing location, she knew that they were trying to avenge those who had fallen victim to the hollows she had attracted near their villages.

Finally she could rest from the burden of regret weighing down on her. Wouldn't her death bring joy into others' lives instead of sadness? Couldn't she finally be at peace knowing that she could finally do something right?

Mei liked the feel of the wind parting around her– parting like they were gates giving way for her to pass through and meet what fate had planned since the beginning of her existance.

She liked the feel of the force of gravity, pushing her closer to what is to be and found herself smiling. She was relived to be leaving this world to enter another in exchange.

Her dark hair had grown longer over the years and her pale skin had tanned from the various lands and deserts she'd had the privilege to pass through. The tips of her bangs waved towards the sky like a flame. A flame reaching out for help like a human rising to the surface of a pool in need for air.

It felt nice just falling for falling was much simpler than having to spend a lifetime playing survival.

Mei braced herself. In a few seconds it would all finally be over. But that did not happen. A strong hand caught her wrist.

She didn't bother opening her eyes until a couple of seconds later. And when Mei did, she saw styled sky blue hair and matching blue eyes. He wasn't even looking at the neutral expression she was giving him but instead gazing at something beyond her.

He licked his lips in a blood thirsty manner and shot mad looks towards a few hollows which had closed in on them. They instantly disappeared in thin air like water evaporating. Did he do something? Was he the cause of it?

After a few minutes she decided that he must be an assassin sent to ensure she gets killed in the most painful way. But it did cross her mind that he'd simply intended to save her; not that she considered it to be his purpose; that was on the bottom of her list of assumptions.

Mei decided to be reluctant towards his actions and began pulling her wrist away. Immediately he shot her a glare and tightened his grip, painfully digging his nails into her flesh, "Don't move." He barked, irritation evident in the tone he'd used.

She chose to ignore him and carried on, which was a big mistake. His hand let go of her wrist. She was about to try and examine its condition when his other hand wrapped around her petite neck and her back was slammed against what felt like rough tree bark.

"I WILL KILL YOU, YOU INSIGNIFICANT HUMAN!" Mei's sensitive ears were visibly ringing and she squirmed slightly when his saliva splattered across her face. How indecent could men get?

"T-then why did you save me?" She managed to whisper although after each word she needed to take in a sharp breath.

"Argh.." She found herself unable to breathe because whoever this assassin was had a really strong grip and a bad temper.

Unknown strength surged into her arms and she found herself fighting back until he eventually let go of her throat. She fell to her knees and made the type of noise a normal human would make after they'd been holding their breath underwater for too long and had reached the surface midway in the process of devouring oxygen.

After a few minutes she regained her normal pattern of breathing and got into a sitting position. "You didn't answer me." Mei wanted to know why he'd saved her because no one had ever done so much as to help her, adding to the fact that he was a stranger.

He didn't respond. Mei reached for a small rock which was lying beside her foot and threw it at his head.

The blue haired stranger didn't turn but caught it in his hand without looking. He wrapped his hand around the rock and as each second passed, his grip tightened more and more until the rock crumbled at the pressure and was nothing more than soil slipping through the gaps between his fingers and onto the ground.

Mei started to stand up because he'd turned around with an unreadable expression over his face. Was he pissed with her?

"Who are you and what do you want with me?" She said while taking a step back.

Still no reply. She cowered away until her back hit the surface of a tree and the blue haired stranger was merely but a metre away from her.

He carried on advancing towards her with a swagger in his stride until he could sense her shivering in the atmosphere. He moved his head forward and turned his face towards her ear.

"Grimmjow Jeagerjaques and that's no way to speak to someone who saved your life. I suppose I was attracted to your high reiatsu which also explains why you've not collapsed and died in the wake of my own high reiatsu," he smirked mischievously, "…you saw what happened to those hollows." He added.

_What does he mean? What_ _reiatsu? Hollows? Are they those monsters and were they attracted to my-my unheard of reiatsu like Grimmjow was?_

"Grimmjow –" Mei had so many questions to ask but was cut off. "…You're annoying."

He dug his fist into her stomach and she fell to the ground. He didn't have time answer any of her petty requests.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10

Mei lay lifelessly on the ground. Her body was in an awkward position and her hands were clutching her stomach tightly. She'd woken up this way and found that she was in the same place as she could last remember.

As she rose from the ground, the cliff from before came into view. It was very hard to make out in the darkness so she'd have to be extra careful not to fall from it again.

Looking upwards, she saw that the sky was a vivid, navy blue and many stars were out. Fireworks exploded into the scene and displayed wondrous patterns like glowing sky art.

From how dark it was, she realised it must've been around midnight. _How long had I been knocked out for?_

The memories from earlier were still as fresh and as clear as she could remember.

"Grimmjow" She hissed. How dare he have done that to her.

She began walking through the forest's muddy paths, snapping various twigs with every step.

No hollows seemed to be present either. Had Grimmjow been telling the truth? Had he really destroyed them for good?

She carried on walking trying to contemplate on whether she should set off for another village or remain here for the time being.

Suddenly, an all too familiar roar sounded in the distance. It echoed through the valley, sending shock waves which rattled the trees. The ground littered with rainbow coloured leaves.

The roars continued to pierce through the peaceful silence of night, and also her hopes of ever getting to live a care-free life again.

She shot through the twists of paths at an alarming speed. So fast and swiftly that her body was a blur and wind parted at her upcoming. She lost herself completely. Her body and strong legs were used to this familiar routine, quickly adjusting to the new rural landscape.

Her messy jet black hair glided behind as she ran. _Why am I running away? _She suddenly thought.

Abruptly, Mei stopped midway on the path. The wind hadn't caught up yet, so a few seconds later it gushed forward and brushed against her back like a raging tsunami, crashing against the shore.

This caused her locks to float again like tentacles.

There was no reason for her to be running. This wasn't a game and she couldn't continue to play it for the rest of her life. It was unnecessary.

An arrogant grin took over her features.

She remembered what Grimmjow had said. He'd told her that she had something called high reiatsu, and that he could use his own to slaughter them. So why couldn't she too?

Swiftly, she turned around and advanced down the path she'd just ran from. It was a short and effortless journey. In no time, the cliff vaguely came back into view as she approached it and sure enough, there was a 'hollow' standing on the peak. It looked like it was trying to appear as a god.

"Be prepared to die!" She yelled at the masked beast. It was a couple of meters away from her now, with a look of lust and desire. This disgusted Mei. She knew all it wanted was her reiatsu now as it continued to sliver forwards.

"Did you come to save me the trouble of finding you? How nice!" It then burst out with evil laughter and its serpent like tail swished slowly.

This angered Mei. She screwed her mouth and clenched her fists out of aggravation. The adrenaline was pouring through her veins like a drug. All these years she'd wasted running from these scum.

Now they'd pay for ever showing themselves in this world! All the torture she'd gone through would be avenged!

Without thinking she charged forwards with no tactic and soon she regretted not thinking it through first.

The creature noticed her movement and stopped its shrieking.

"Have you come to play, girl?" She ignored its ugly snarl and carried on forwards. She had an idea.

The creature raised its whip like wing high into the air and started smashing it into the ground, trying to squash her.

It couldn't hope to match her speed and easily she evaded the first round of blows. Grabbing its wrinkled tail, she brought out the knife which was hiding up her sleeve.

Only in emergencies would she ever bring it out.

Mercilessly, she stabbed it into the creature's tail. Roars erupted like explosions and it was a surprise that its pitch hadn't sent her death. Anyone within range of the noise would have surely fainted.

She continued to strike her now blunt knife into its flesh, ignoring the slashes of struggle the creature's claws were sending into her body.

The pain was endurable.

She lost all control over herself, and it actually felt good to be delivering such pain and anguish to the beast. She forgot that she could simply use her powerful reiatsu to destroy it, rather than brutally ripping it from limb to limb.

Finally, it gave up and collapsed onto the rough ground. Some trees even plummeted down along with it.

It's whole body then gave off a blinding glow before disintegrating.

After that, Mei's vision got fuzzy and she collapsed. She was still conscious but exhausted. Her whole body was in pains. She even eyed the knife which lay close and innocently beside her head.

Wouldn't ending it all now save her the pain from living this cursed life?

She lifted her blood stained hand and reached for it. But before she could do anything drastic, something stopped her. It was a foot. A foot which was carelessly rammed into her wrist.

Sure enough the bloody knife clattered to the ground and a loud and clear snap sent shivers down her spine. She couldn't feel her wrist. It was broken.

Mei crocked her head as best as she could to see who her savour or enemy was.

Mei was met with a pair of light blue eyes. She could narrowly see the amusement flaring in his pupils.

"Grimmjow," she spat. He sneered before bringing out a hand to pull her up which she took.

"So we meet again," He remarked, but before he could finish, Mei cut him off. She'd been planning to not let him go so easily if they met again. After all, he had some answers she wanted from him.

And this was no coincidence either.

"I don't know what's going on, but since you stopped me from killing myself, there must be something you want."

A vile grin spread across his face as he inched closer to her. "Yes there is. But it's mainly about what you want."

This took her by surprise, so it took longer for her to respond. "Carry on." Mei knew a million and one things that she wanted, but he could be trying to fool her.

"Well I uh… watched you kill that hollow just… and was quite impressed. I think I'd work well with someone like you. You're tough and strong. And you do have high reiatsu which is a bonus I suppose. If I'm feeling generous I could teach you how to use it." He then paused before smirking and looking into her eyes.

"And you kinda cute."

Mei nearly doubled over. It was all so sudden and she didn't know what to do.

"Don't misunderstand," He then looked serious with a dark expression.

"I'm merely using you as a weapon. I'll be creating an arm to take over Hueco Mundo…. and most importantly, kill Tosen."

_What the hell is Hueco Mundo and more importantly who is Tosen? I'll be a weapon?_

Mei frowned. It could go either way. There wasn't really anything worth living for in this world anymore. And here was a stranger who'd saved her life twice, offering to bring what little purpose for her.

At least she could be of use. All that her existence had ever done for anyone before, was to bring pain and suffering into the lives of others.

"Deal."

He roughly grabbed her arm and suddenly they were gone.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Written by 10ShizukaYuukiMistress10

A long year had passed since Grimmjow had taken Mei in as his apprentice.

During that space of time, he stretched out her training so that it would last for all hours of the day and night.

His army needed to be strong, so he showed her no kindness or compassion during that time. When training hours were over, they'd usually discuss battle plans and how they'd go about doing the raids.

Mei was a quick learner – which was one of her many gifts. She could control her reiatsu after the first few days of practice. This genuinely impressed Grimmjow. He'd expected her to give up but she never once complained.

And more importantly, Grimmjow had been genuinely true to her by keeping his promise. She could now sleep without needing to worry for her own life, or the lives of those around her.

Hollows didn't bother her anymore because she'd learnt how to raise her spiritual pressure to its very maximum limit at all times. Any hollow within a 5 kilometre radius of her, would be burnt to ashes.

She'd also awakened her zanpakuto, Shizuka no Ansatsusha. That too impressed Grimmjow. He even wondered if teaching her bankai would be enough for his army's final secret weapon.

She was the ultimate prodigy, a gift from the heavens.

As the year progressed Mei did too, learning and developing new skills and powers. She could do nearly every cero, including the Gran Rey Cero.

When she'd first mastered it, Mei could vividly remember that Grimmjow had fallen back out of both shock and joy. The way he'd looked at her that day had lit a mysterious spark, deep within her heart.

Whenever Mei mastered a technique, she'd check extra carefully to see if he ever had that gleam in his eyes again. But the moment never arrived.

However, she eventually came to terms with that.

Her hope to see it again had simply been an illusion.

After all, the Gran Rey Cero was his favourite – as she'd learnt while in harsh spars with him – so it would be understandable that he was pleased she'd perfected it.

Anyhow, after that long year of hell, Mei had been transformed into a highly skilled assassin. Her hair was cut shorter so that it ended by her shoulders and the fringe remained.

She was a girl and she did have her needs. Without a mother for so long, she'd never really learnt how to look after herself, much less her abnormally long hair.

Cutting it had been the only option left. Grimmjow hadn't offered her any help in deciding. He'd simply commented that it was getting in the way.

Her appearance had undergone many changes too. Her tan skin had gotten even tanner – a golden colour – and her height had increased by one or two inches.

Since training had been rough, the rags she'd began with were swapped for a short, white kimono.

She protested about looking like a Barbie doll, but Grimmjow was too stubborn to let her have her own way.

:: oOo ::

**7:45 am**

"Are you ready Mei?" He asked her calmly.

They were standing in the middle of a deserted field, outside of an abandoned town. It was very remote and bleak.

"I am," She confirmed. "you know I am. I'm capable now Grimmjow."

He nodded satisfied. "And what is your mission?" He checked, just to make sure that she hadn't forgotten their objective.

"I'll be tracking down soldiers for your army. They'll consist of humans possessing high reiatsu like me."

Her hand unconsciously fell to her side and rested on the hilt of her dagger-like zanpakuto.

"So where will you head first?" He asked her.

She shook her head, irritated. He was going too far with all this testing. Mei grabbed hold of her dagger and swiftly sliced through the air with it.

She was actually snipping out one of her soul ribbons.

Soul ribbons were the physical form of reiatsu. The more ribbons that you had, then the higher your spiritual pressure was. Mei had _hundreds_ of ribbons.

"I'll be stopping at Karakura town. There are five or more portentous humans there."

Mei then got into a stance and was about to shunpo away. However Grimmjow stopped her before she could disappear.

Any second later and he'd have been grabbing air.

She glanced at him with curiosity gleaming like diamonds within her lilac orbs.

"Don't get yourself into too much trouble either. I expect to see you again very soon."

He gave her a toothy grin, which looked quite adorable. On the most part, Mei found it hilarious.

Although Grimmjow had sneered and smirked before, he'd never made it to a smile. So his attempt had looked very very weird. If not scarily intimidating.

And Mei had liked it. She responded with a single nod of her head.

"Although I'd been hollow bait for years before you brought me in Grimmjow, I'll try not to get myself into too much trouble….." She stated calmly, with sarcasm evident in her voice.

A long moment passed as they both looked in different directions and savoured the moment. Since it was dawn some sunlight poured over the vast field and lit up the sky. They both watched in amusement.

It was time to play.

:: oOo ::

**Rukia's POV**

**10:49 am**

Rukia casually strolled through the streets of Karakura town. Occasionally she'd look up to examine her whereabouts and make sure that she was on the right track.

The day was calm and only a few civilians were out.

Ichigo was busy at home doing schoolwork so she knew better than to bug him into hanging out with her.

So that's what had brought her here; nonchalantly walking through the town alone.

Although she knew Orihime, Chad, Uryu and Keigo and Mizuiro would gladly offer her their company, it wouldn't be fair for her to take away their weekend.

Abruptly, she stopped midway on the path she was on. It led to a random clothes store.

Sometimes Rukia wondered if Ichigo would stop her from leaving this town and her friends.

Her former home was in the Soul Society after all and if she hadn't requested to stay here, then that's probably where she should be now.

Her thoughts were disrupted when a piercing roar echoed out. She looked up.

_A hollow?_

The distinctive roar sounded again, almost as if to confirm her assumptions. It cut through her hopes of having another peaceful day alone.

She flipped open her cell phone and hit a few buttons. Moments later, the soul page flashed across the screen and sure enough, there was a digital map of Karakura town on the small screen.

In the centre was a red dot. It was racing across the screen at an alarming speed.

Without thinking to slip out of her gigai, she shot down the street as fast as her legs would go.

She wasn't going to make it.

The blood curdling roars had stopped. Rukia could only think of one thing that must have happened. The hollow was devouring a soul.

Her dark hair whipped across her face as she ran. _Faster. _She pleaded mentally.

A few minutes later, the scene of crime came into view. She panicked when she realised where she was. Karakura High.

However there was no sign of the hollow.

"That's weird…" She began after checking her soul page again. The red dot had completely disappeared too. That meant that it had been killed.

_But by who?_

She quickly slid back into her gigai and began on her way to Urahara's shop. Maybe he'd know about the strange hollow activity. If Yoruichi the goddess of flash was back, then that could explain why it had been eliminated so quickly.

Uryu was supposed to be helping out with his dad at the family's hospital. Chad was supposedly at band practice with some of his other classmates. Orihime was working at a restaurant – although she could have been fired since her cooking isn't very dependable or editable in the least.

_Could it have been Ichigo?_

Rukia sat down on a nearby bench and flipped open her cell once again, quickly dialling his number.

Nobody answered.

Although Ichigo never answering her calls wasn't new, Kon would at least answer on behalf of him. This was very strange.

Suddenly, Rukia found herself gasping. The air around her felt thick and humid. Anyone walking by would have fallen unconscious, if not dying on the spot.

It was like the force of gravity was twice as strong. But Rukia knew better. It was spiritual pressure.

_What the hell is going on?_

She fell forwards and onto her knees, and sweat rolled down her face. She struggled to get back up and finally stopped resisting.

Something flashed before her eyes. It looked like a blur of white. Moments later, she realised that it was a kimono.

"Wh-wh – " It was too late. Before Rukia could finish her sentence, she fainted. The pressure was too much.


End file.
